The wastewater is mainly used for growing paddy

and the health risks are therefore predominantly to

agricultural workers and their families; consumers
are less likely to be at risk because rice is always
cooked. However, vegetables are occasionally grown
in small plots which could affect consumers.

Summary Assessment

Water Quality Survey for

Kurunegala, Sri Lanka
Report by Priyanka Dissanayake, Alexandra Clemett,
Priyantha Jayakody and Priyanie Amerasinghe.
Summary by Chamila Dias and Alexandra Clemett.
Introduction
This summary is one in a series of summaries written
by the Wastewater Agriculture and Sanitation for
Poverty Alleviation in Asia (WASPA Asia) project.
The project aims to develop and test solutions for
sanitation and wastewater management, to reduce
the risks from wastewater use in agriculture. The
approach involves the development of stakeholder
coalitions at town and national level, called Learning
Alliances, which will bring together the main
stakeholders into a participatory process through
which actions will be planned and implemented.

Though above WHO guidelines, the total Coliform

count was substantially lower in the agricultural area
than further up-stream. This may be due to natural
treatment processes in the 2 km stretch of the
irrigation canal where there are very few additional
sources of pollution. This needs to be studied further
before any recommendations are made.
Main Findings
This section reviews the water quality results
obtained in the baseline sampling and the single
sampling event that has taken place since that.
Samples were taken along the two water courses
that flow through the city, the Wan Ela and the Beu
Ela. Samples were also taken in the agricultural area
and from one deep well and one shallow well.

The WASPA Asia project is funded primarily under

the EU Asia Pro Eco II Programme of the European
Commission. It is being undertaken in Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh by the International Water Management
Institute (IWMI) and COSI in Sri Lanka; the
International Water and Sanitation Centre in the
Netherlands; NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply
and Sanitation in Bangladesh; and the Stockholm
Environment Institute (SEI) in Sweden.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Most of the parameters tested in the water quality
survey were within the proposed Sri Lankan
standards for irrigation and agriculture, and the World
Health
Organization
(WHO)
guidelines
for
wastewater use in agriculture. Very low if any
concentrations of heavy metals were recorded, and
these were not therefore tested in future monitoring
events.
The most concerning finding was that
biological quality parameters were not satisfied. It
can be concluded that the major problem in using
wastewater in agriculture in the project area is the
high level of faecal contamination.

Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a necessary primary macronutrient for
plants that stimulates plant growth and is usually
added as a fertilizer but can also be found in
wastewater as nitrate, ammonia, organic nitrogen or
nitrite (FAO 2006). The most important factor for
plants is the total amount of nitrogen (N) regardless
of whether it is in the form of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3N), ammonium-nitrogen (NH4-N) or organic-nitrogen
(Org-N). If excess nitrogen is applied to the crop it
can result in: over-stimulation and excessive growth
which attracts pests; delayed maturity; or a reduction
in the quality of the crop (Ayres and Westcot 1994).

Project site and sample locations

The concentration of nitrogen required varies

according to the crop. Most crops are relatively
unaffected until nitrogen exceeds 30 mg l-1 but more
sensitive crops can be affected by nitrogen
concentrations above 5 mg/l. The sensitivity of crops
also varies with the growth stage: high nitrogen
levels may be beneficial during early growth stages
but may cause yield losses during the later flowering
and fruiting stages, consequently high nitrogen
water, including domestic wastewater, can be used
as a fertilizer early in the season but should ideally
be reduced or blended with other sources of water
later in the growth cycle (Ayres and Westcot 2004).
In general, the nitrogen levels in the surface water in
the project area were fairly low and were all below
30 mg/l. However, six of the samples were above the
5 mg/l proposed for irrigation water for Sri Lanka.
These results seem low for wastewater and further
analysis is required.
The total nitrogen concentration of the ground water
was among the highest of the samples but the NO3-N
was below the WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water
Quality (1998).

2001). All the values reported exceed the this

standard.
Salts and Conductivity
Electrical conductivity (EC) is a measure of the ions
present in water and is also effectively a surrogate
for total dissolved solids (TDS). It is a measure of
the salinity of the water and although it does not
identify the dissolved salts or the effects they may
have on crops or soil, it does indicate fairly reliably
the degree with which a salinity problem is likely to
occur. Salinity restricts the availability of water to
plants by lowering the total water potential in the soil.
Salinity also has an impact on crop physiology and
yield with visible injury occurring at high salinity
levels.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO; Ayres
and Westcot 1994) has developed guidelines for the
evaluation of water quality for irrigation and suggests
that there need be:

Phosphorous
Phosphorus is also a primary macronutrient that is
essential to the growth of plants and other biological
organisms but quantities can be excessive and if the
concentrations in water are too high noxious algal
blooms can occur. In Sri Lanka there is currently no
limit on phosphorus levels in wastewater but the
-1
proposed limit has been set at 0.7 mg l Error!
Reference source not found. for irrigation (CEA

No restrictions on the use of irrigation water with

-1
-1
an EC of 0.7 dS m (700 S cm ) or a TDS
-1
concentration of less than 450 mg l ;
Slight to moderate restrictions if concentrations
-1
are in the range 0.7 3.0 dS m or a TDS
-1
concentration of 450 2000 mg l ; and
Severe restrictions for irrigation water with an EC
-1
of greater than 3.0 dS m or a TDS concentration
-1
of more than 2000 mg l .

The proposed irrigation water quality standards for

Inland Waters in Sri Lanka for EC and TDS are
0.7 dS m-1 (700 S cm-1) and 500 mg l-1 respectively.

The surface water samples were all within the FAO

guidelines for TDS and EC.
Sodium Absorption Ratio
The relative proportion of sodium to other cations is
determined by the Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR).
This index quantifies the proportion of sodium (Na+)
to calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) ions in a
sample. Calcium will flocculate (hold together), while
sodium disperses (pushes apart) soil particles. This
dispersed soil will readily crust and have water
infiltration and permeability problems. Any increase
in the SAR in irrigation water increases the SAR of
the soil solution, which ultimately increases the
exchangeable sodium by the soil, leading to the loss
of permeability.
SAR varied between 0.44 to 1.05 for locations 1 to
10 in the baseline survey and 0.70 to 1.25 in the
second monitoring event. The variation within the
irrigation canal is less at 0.78 to 1.05; and 1.25 to
1.17 for the respective sampling events. These
values are far below the WHO (2006) restricted limits
for irrigation water. The Proposed Ambient Water
Quality Standard range for SAR for irrigation and
agriculture in Sri Lanka is 6-15.
Iron
Excessive iron in wastewater can reduce the
dissolved
phosphorous
component
through
precipitation; therefore, phosphorous might not be
readily available for plant uptake in the presence of
excessive iron. The concentration of iron ranged from
-1
0.6 mg l in one of the ground water samples to
-1
2.5 mg l in the in-flow to Beu Ela; however there
was no clear pattern in the variability of iron
concentrations. The WHO recommended maximum
concentration of iron for crop production is 5 mg l-1,
which is above and the reported values for the
project samples.
In the second sampling event, iron was tested only in
ground water samples and the concentrations are
within the proposed permissible maximum level for
drinking of 1.0 mg l-1.
Heavy metals
The results of the water quality analysis showed that
nickel, cadmium, arsenic, lead and mercury were not
detected in any of the samples. All samples except
that from point 9 were found to contain some
-1
Chromium but it ranged from 0.05 to 0.06 mg l and
was therefore below the national limit for Sri Lanka of

0.1 mg l-1 for effluents disposed of to surface water

-1
and below the limit of 1.0 mg l for effluents disposed
of to irrigated land. Copper (Cu) was only found to be
present in the ground water and only at a
-1
concentration of 0.01 mg l which is the minimum
quality standard proposed by the CEA. Standards
are not proposed for copper for irrigation. The WHO
(2006) recommended maximum concentration is
-1
0.2 mg l , and Cu is toxic to a number of plants at
0.1-1.0 mg l-1 in nutrient solutions.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand
The most widely used parameter to measure water
quality is 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5).
In the analysis the method used for BOD5
determination had a detection limit of 15 mg l-1
because the water was deemed to be wastewater.
The results of the analysis were that all samples
were below the limits of detection for the method
used. This was not expected and further sampling
events must consider why such low BOD values are
being obtained. Research by the National Water
Supply and Drainage Board and the University of
-1
Peradeniya found the range to be 90-160 mg l . The
current maximum limit for BOD5 for industrial effluent
discharged to agricultural land is 250 mg l-1 but this is
high; the limit for discharge to open water bodies is
-1
only 30 mg l and the proposed limits for ambient
water quality are in the range of 3-5 mg l-1.
Chemical Oxygen Demand
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is often measured
in addition to or instead of BOD5. There is no
maximum permissible COD level defined for Sri
Lanka for irrigation water but there is a proposed
minimum quality criterion of 40 mg l-1 for Class III
waters (general waters). All the samples were within
this limit in the baseline survey, although higher
values were expected.
Microbiological Characteristics
The microbiological characteristics of water and
wastewater are of fundamental importance to human
health. Untreated wastewater that includes faecal
waste contains a variety of excreted organisms
including pathogens at very high concentrations.
The most common indicator organisms used when
monitoring water quality are Coliforms and Faecal
Coliforms.
Guidelines set by WHO for wastewater used in
agriculture originally had a maximum Faecal Coliform
count of less than 1000 Faecal Coliform Units (FCU)

per 100 ml for crops likely to be eaten raw, but no

standard for irrigation of cereal crops (Pescod 1992).
The high level of total and Faecal Coliforms in
samples tested in the baseline survey does not
comply with the proposed water quality standards for
irrigation and agriculture in Sri Lanka or the WHO
guidelines for use of wastewater in agriculture (CEA
2001; WHO 2006). The Coliform count was highest
as the wastewater exits the city, near Wilgoda. The
water in the canal which takes water from the anicut
to the paddy fields was found to have 5 x 105 most
probable number (MPN) of Coliforms/100ml. The
water in the irrigation canal at the entry point to the
paddy fields had 16 x 104 MPN of coliforms/100ml,
which is above the limits set by the WHO for
wastewater used in agriculture.

Microbial contamination is the main concern,

suggesting that interventions to reduce the quantity
of domestic waste entering the drainage channels
could be beneficial.
Parasites may be entering through wastewater or
open defecation which is known to take place in
Wilgoda.
Since microbial contamination is the main problem,
on-farm practices and post-harvest activities could
reduce the risk for farmers, their families, and
consumers of the produce.
The use of wastewater for irrigation may have
positive impacts for short term productivity because
of the presence of nutrients but might have
negative consequences in the long term.
Heavy metal concentrations do not appear to be
high.
There is the possibility that natural treatment
processes are taking place along the system might
be effective, further investigation should establish
this and if it is proven to be the case could offer an
opportunity to improve the water quality by
enhancing natural processes.

References
Ayres, R. S. and D. W. Westcot. 1994. Water Quality
for Agriculture. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 29
Rev 1. Rome, Italy: FAO.
The groundwater samples analyzed also showed
high faecal contamination. One well is used for
bathing but the water quality does not comply with
the bathing water standards for Coliforms given in
the CEA proposed water quality standards.
Nematode Eggs
Of the three sample locations tested, only Wilgoda
Anicut was positive for parasite eggs. The eggs
found were pin worm eggs (Enterobius vermicularis),
indicating faecal contamination of the storage water.
The water quality in the anicut did not satisfy the
WHO quality criterion for irrigation.
Implications for WASPA
The water quality testing has some important
implications that need to be shared with the Learning
Alliance members. The most important are:
Use of wastewater poses a health risk to farmers.

Central Environmental Authority. 2001. Proposed

Ambient Water quality Standards for Inland Waters
Sri Lanka. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Environment Action 1
Project (Funded by ADB).
National Water Supply and Drainage Board
(NWSDB). 2005. Initial Environmental Examination
Report: In Respect of Greater Kurunegala Sewerage
Project. Kurunegala, Sri Lanka: Ministry of Urban
Development and Water Supply.
Pescod, M. B. 1992. Wastewater Treatment and Use
in Agriculture. Rome, Italy: FAO.
World Health Organization. 2006. WHO Guidelines
for the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and
Greywater: Volume II Wastewater use in Agriculture.
Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.

For more information please contact: Palitha Jayaweera, COSI, Sri Lanka (palitha.jayaweera@cosi.org.lk); Alexandra
Clemett, IWMI, Sri Lanka (a.clemett@cgiar.org); Joep Verhagen, IRC, The Netherlands (verhagen@irc.nl).